Magnum P.I. Reboot: Penny Dreadful Alum to Play (Female) Higgins

Don’t adjust your aviators: Higgins is going to look very different in CBS’ Magnum P.I. reboot.

Penny Dreadful alumna Perdita Weeks has signed on to play Juliet Higgins in the buzzy pilot, our sister site Variety is reporting. Weeks’ Juliet is the property manager of the sprawling Hawaiian estate where detective Thomas Magnum provides security and lives in the guest house. Her character is described as “commanding, confident, and tough, who uses sarcasm to deflect emotion and is hard to get to know.”

The casting is a gender-flip from the original Magnum, where Jonathan Higgins — played by the late John Hillerman — served as a foil for Tom Selleck’s Magnum. (Hillerman won an Emmy for the role in 1987.) Jay Hernandez (Scandal, Last Resort) signed on last month to play the title role in CBS’ reboot, which has already nabbed an official pilot order.

A native of the UK, Weeks co-starred as Catriona in Season 3 of Showtime’s Penny Dreadful. She also played Mary Boleyn on The Tudors and appeared on Grantchester, The Musketeers and ABC’s Titanic miniseries.

Ready to say “aloha” to a female Higgins? Sound off on this casting in the comments.